'Breivik is what Norway deserves'

French writer Richard Millet has sparked off controversy by praising the Norway killer, who killed nearly 77 people in a rampage last year

A French essayist, who claims to have read mass-murderer Anders Breivik’s 1,500 page manifesto, has said he believes Norway ‘got what it deserved’.

Richard Millet, who says he has read all 1,500 pages of Breivik’s online manifesto, insists that he does not approve of the Norway gunman’s crimes.

However, he praised Breivik’s writing and cry of hatred for social democracy, immigration and multiculturalism. “Breivik is without doubt what Norway deserves,” wrote Millet in an 18-page pamphlet.

He is “as much a child of a broken family as of an ideological and racial fracture caused by immigration from outside Europe over the last 20 years,” added Millet, who has edited several award-winning books in France.

“European nations are dissolving socially at the same time as they’re losing their Christian essence in favour of general relativism.”

Millet has defended his piece, saying, “Multiculturalism, as it has been imported from the United States, is the worst thing possible for Europe. It creates a mosaic of ghettoes in which the nation no longer exists. Breivik, I believe, perceived that and responded to that question with the most monstrous reply.”

Reactions His writing about Breivik has sparked consternation in the literary circles, with one author Annie Ernaux calling the text “a politically dangerous act”. Another author Tahar Ben Jelloun said, “He has lost his head.”Others were less critical. “He is still my editor,” said Alexis Jenni. “I don’t want to take any public position on the subject. Millet believes only in literature. He is someone who writes marvellously well. His questionable ideas do not reduce his literary qualities,” he argued. Breivik was last week sentenced to 21 years in prison for killing 77 people in a bomb attack and deadly shooting rampage that shook Norway.

Family of Breivik victim files complaint against police The family of one of the victims of Anders Behring Breivik’s 2011 attacks in Norway has accused police of breach of duty for its slow response to the mass shooting on Utoeya island, police’s internal affairs said. “We have received a complaint from the family of a victim that is faulting the police for the way in which it carried out its duties on Utoeya on July 22, 2011,” said spokesman for the Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs, Paal Henrich Berle.